Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Park Service Washington-Rochambeau National Historic Trail U.S
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Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Park Service Washington-Rochambeau National Historic Trail U.S. Department of the Interior Massachusetts to Virginia Revolutionary Route “The essential and direct End of the present defensive alliance is to maintain… the liberty, Sovereignty, and independence…of said united States.” —from the ”Treaty of Alliance,” 1778, National Archives and Records Administration Map of the route to Yorktown ROCHAMBEAU MAP COLLECTION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Washington, Rochambeau, and Lafayette in the Siege of Yorktown by Louis-Charles Auguste Couder RÉUNION DES MUSÉES NATIONAUX / France Joins the Cause ART RESOURCE, NY When leaders of 13 of the American colonies boldly Facing a strong enemy with so few resources forced the as well as avenging France’s loss to Great Britain in the French aid helped the Americans, but by March 1780 declared independence from Great Britain in 1776, they Americans to search for allies to aid them in their cause. Seven Years War. the war in the colonies was at a stalemate. France re- knew that without military supplies, naval power, and Beginning in 1775, contacts were underway between the sponded by sending thousands of its best soldiers across money their quest would fail. At that time Great Britain Court of Louis XVI and the patriots. France had deep ties The American mission was a success. Louis XVI agreed the Atlantic to help George Washington’s patriots hold off possessed the greatest navy and one of the best armies to North America, establishing settlements there long to provide muskets, mortars, gunpowder, and cash to the the British. Their commander was a man of great experi- in the world. Well-trained and better-equipped British before the French and Indian War of the 1750s. There new nation. In 1778 France signed a “Treaty of Alliance” ence and respect, General Jean Baptiste Donatien de forces overpowered America’s Continental were, however, other motives for the king’s support of with the United States of America. Their recognition of Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau. Army troops from the beginning of the a colonial rebellion on a distant continent—bolstering the young country as a sovereign power earned the Revolutionary War. his nation’s economic and political power worldwide, fledgling nation respect throughout the world. The Long March to Independence Officers and Men The 450 officers and 5,300 men of Ro- There was, however, a change in plans. On The allied forces comprised a diverse chambeau’s Expeditionary Forces landed learning that French Admiral de Grasse group with a common goal. French troops on the coast of Rhode Island in July 1780. was steering his warships to the Chesa- impressed colonists with their professional Generals Washington and Rochambeau peake Bay, Washington and Rochambeau military training and elegantly decorated agreed to wait until the spring of 1781 decided to abandon the offensive on uniforms. The Continental Army, however, to launch a joint military offensive, so Clinton and head south. Allied troops included able bodies, from boys who were the French army spent the bitter winter departed from Phillipsburg, New York, barely teens to men who were grand- George Washington comte de Rochambeau camped in Newport, Rhode Island, and on August 18 and arrived outside York- fathers. Some had been trained; others by James Peale by Charles Willson Peale Lebanon, Connecticut. During that time, town, Virginia, on September 28. had never fired a shot. A man’s social or INDEPENDENCE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK INDEPENDENCE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK French officers prepared for the march Jean Baptiste Antoine de Verger, Soldiers in Uniform, 1781. Soldiers of political status often determined his rank. that would unite them with Continental Their efforts were worthwhile. The allied the Continental Army, sketched by a French soldier at Yorktown. Although most American soldiers were of troops at the Hudson River. From there victory at Yorktown proved to be a turning COURTESY ANNE S.K. BROWN MILITARY COLLECTION, BROWN UNIVERSITY British ancestry, some descended from the allied forces planned to attack British point in the war. American colonists, who Germans, Africans, and American Indians. General Clinton’s stronghold in New York initially greeted the French with suspicion Only one black soldier served under City, a few days’ march to the south. on the 600-mile trip south from Rhode Rochambeau but Baron von Closen, a Island to Virginia in 1781, hailed them as the [American] men were with out member of Rochambeau’s French army at The first French forces left Newport on heroes on their return trip north. The “ Yorktown, noted in July 1781, ”A quarter June 11, 1781. Moving thousands of men trail both armies marched is now pre- of [the American army] are Negroes, and animals over waterways, through served as the Washington-Rochambeau uniforms and covered with rags; merry, confident and sturdy.” Many of unfamiliar forests, and across hilly terrain Revolutionary Route and celebrates the those African Americans who fought Many officers played important roles in the Washington- was an enormous and risky undertaking. allies’ joint labors to achieve American most of them were barefoot.” under Washington were freedmen and Rochambeau story, including (l to r) British generals Sir Henry Clinton and Lord Charles Cornwallis and French Roads were sometimes impassable. Finally, independence. —comte de Clermont Crèvecœur, commenting on former slaves who hoped American Admiral François-Joseph Paul, comte de Grasse. on July 4, 1781, the two armies met in the appearance of the American troops, 1781 independence would improve the status CLINTON: PRODUCED COURTESY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM IN BRITAIN (BATH, UK); CORNWALLIS: Phillipsburg, New York. of their race. © NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON Every Continental Army soldier received a musket and tools to keep the weapon in working order. COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT PROGRAM AND MORRISTOWN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK Siege d’York, 1781 ROCHAMBEAU MAP COLLECTION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Bullet molds, used to cast musket This iron kettle was used by the and pistol caliber balls, were Americans to melt and pour lead into among the essential supplies Each Continental soldier carried Playing cards, like these French ones, molds to make musket balls or shot. issued by the Continental Army. a powder horn and musket. provided entertainment in camp. COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT PROGRAM AND MORRISTOWN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK PROGRAM AND MORRISTOWN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK PROGRAM AND MORRISTOWN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK PROGRAM AND VALLEY FORGE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK YO R K R I V ER IMPENETRABLE MARSH YORKTOWN Moving an Army FRENCH From June through September 1781 soldiers her course, before our weak stomachs Wives and children of the Continental Army TROOPS on the march to Yorktown carried their own have begun to receive and digest the and French troops sometimes followed their weapons, utensils, and other personal items. necessary food.” husbands, brothers, and fathers to camp. BRITISH TROOPS A man often hauled 60 pounds or more for These civilians, uprooted by war, sewed, up to eight hours a day. Troops of both The troops received meal rations and dug cooked, and washed clothes for the men, armies required food, water, and a safe pits where they could set their cooking often earning a bit of money for their ser- place to rest each night. kettles. Collecting pure water was essential. vices. They also nursed the wounded. The Soldier’s Return by Pamela Patrick White © PAMELA PATRICK WHITE Robín described being “stretched out full American soldiers benefited by the presence A soldier’s lodging depended on his military length upon the ground, panting with of women in the camps, but Washington rank. On the way to and from Yorktown thirst.” The heat plagued the French. Ameri- noted that these “camp followers” presented A woman’s etui, or case, FRENCH ARTILLERY French and American officers stayed in can troops did not have elaborate uniforms, a physical and financial burden for the army. contained tools for daily nearby homes or taverns, while the men but their linen overalls were better suited to Like the enlisted troops, they needed to be use, including scissors, slept outside in tents. A camp of thousands summer in the eastern United States than the fed and sheltered, but did not fight. pencil, fork, knife, required hours to assemble. French Chaplain wool garments worn by most of Rochambeau’s corkscrew, bodkin, Abbé Robín complained of having to wait men. To avoid marching at the hottest time tweezers, ear pick, and “until the hottest part of the day for the of day, soldiers were on the road by 4 a.m. an ivory writing board. WASHINGTON’S AND baggage wagons before we can take any and walked 12 to 15 miles to their next COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MUSEUM ROCHAMBEAU’S AMERICAN MANAGEMENT PROGRAM AND GUILFORD HEADQUARTERS TROOPS repose. The sun has sometimes finished campsite by late morning. COURTHOUSE NATIONAL MILITARY PARK Allied Victory at Yorktown The 300-mile trek from New York October 14 an exhausted French to Virginia took five weeks, during soldier wrote in his diary, “The whole which allied troops endured heat- redoubt was so full of dead and stroke, thirst, and fatigue. The French wounded that one had to walk on and Americans separated for part of top of them.” Days later, with their the route, making road travel easier defenses shattered, the British called and effectively deceiving British Gen- for a ceasefire. On October 19, 1781, eral Clinton, who was still expecting British troops solemnly walked an allied attack on New York. through two lines of soldiers— Americans on one side, French on The allies received encouraging news the other—and laid down their arms.